Making Amends
by SpaRkofFiRe
Summary: A sudden emergency forces Peridot and Lapis to move into Steven's house. How will each group (especially Lapis') deal with the crazy antics of the other?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: (My other fic isn't abandoned, I just need something else to refresh my writing mind.)**

 **Ok, before I go on and disappoint, it's not guaranteed that I will finish this, and there** _ **will**_ **be long hiatuses between fics. I tried writing whole stories before releasing them, that way no one would be disappointed if I abandon them, and none of them ended up even being** _ **close**_ **to being finished. I probably need reviews or sumthin' in order to keep me motivated to keep writing. (** _ **Totally not begging for reviews here**_ **) If you don't wanna read something that may be discontinued, stop reading now, lest you get disappointed. And, yes, there will be long gaps between chapters since I have a life outside of writing. If you can't deal with that (and I don't blame you), get out now. I'll definitely try my hardest to finish this, though, just like my other fic!**

 **But anyways, to the story. There's no Lapidot in this fic. Gonna try to make this accurate to the show, so none of those noncanon ships. This takes place sometime after Storm in the Room, but before Rocknaldo. The New Crystal Gems and Gem Harvest never happened here. You'll see why later.**

Peridot lied on the hay stack, trying desperately to go to sleep. Of course, gems didn't need sleep, and she was perfectly aware of that. But she has seen Amethyst doing it, and she had a try at it for herself. She found it actually quite relaxing, as a way to just let that mind of hers rest from all of her troubles and ideas. She would have thought it was ridiculous a few months before, back when she had her limb enhancers. To just waste all that time just… lying there… Peridot still had to admit, it was still quite absurd and seemingly useless, even now. But here she was, trying to take part in another one of Earth's surreal, primitive traditions.

Emphasis on trying.

She had been laying there on that hard, scratchy haystack, the constant hum and plitter-platter of the storm and occasional thunderstrike was exceedingly annoying and sometimes startling, and she constantly had these persistent, abhorrently annoying drops of water landing straight on her forehead – her gem – and promptly sliding down her face. Lapis must've been doing something; didn't she know she was trying to _sleep_?

It could wait though. Peridot still wanted to get on better terms with Lapis; she still felt guilty about dragging her here to Earth. Her patience didn't last long, however. Overtime, her annoyed grunts and groans gradually became more and more audible, and eventually, she burst. "URRGH! LAPIS, CAN YOU _PLEASE_ USE YOUR WATER POWERS SOMEWHERE ELSE?! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT USING YOUR POWERS TO ATTEMPT TO ANNOY ME IS A PATHETIC ABUSE OF THEM!"

There was silence. "… what are you talking about?" Lapis' voice came from the rafters of the barn – Lapis liked hanging around up there for some reason. Weren't there those spider webs that Steven told her about?

"Oh, don't play dumb with me, Lazuli! What else could be constantly dripping these _clod-like_ drops of water on my gem? This isn't funny, Lapis."

"What are you-" Lapis paused for a second, seeming to have realized something. "Oh, you're right. There _is_ water dropping. I think the ceiling is leaking."

"What? Hmm, from my recent studies with the trees outside, I suppose that overtime, wood does rot away, and water could seep through. Lazuli, how old is this barn exactly?" She put her palm to her chin, now in full detective mode.

"… you really think I know?"

"Right, of course. I'm just saying, that if the wood this barn is composed of is old, it could rot away and the water from the storm outside could leak through and possibly soften the wood enough to break itself under its own pressure-"

"W-wait… do you hear that…?" They both paused. Through the constant sound of the rain, they could hear the faint sound of wood creaking, and it gradually got louder and louder. Suddenly, they realized what was happening: the barn was collapsing.

"My Camp Pining Hearts DVDs!" Lapis ran to grab the box of DVDs.

"B-but what about our meep morps?"

"Just take the important stuff!" Lapis alerted as she was holding the box of DVDs and Peridot's tablet and flying down from the rafters and running outside.

"No, no, no no no nononononono!" Peridot stammered as she was desperately trying to gather all her blueprints for her most recent project with the creaking wood getting louder and louder by the second.

"Hurry it up already!" Lapis called from outside.

"DON'T RUSH ME!" She desperately opened shelves upon shelves, looking for the blueprint for her soon-to-be, impromptu limb enhancers she was planning to build.

"Ugh, c'mon…" Lapis muttered as she reached a water arm into the barn, grabbed Peridot, and pulled her out, just as the barn collapsed under its own weight into a heap of rubble and debris.

"NOOOOO! M-MY LIMB ENHANCERS!" Peridot cried out loud as she held her arms out to the destruction, and was put down by Lapis' water arm.

Peridot ran into the rubble and desperately dug through to find the drawer broken into pieces. The rain fell into the papers inside, drenching them and making them illegible. "NOOOO! M-my whole Earth-life's work… all gone…"

Lapis flew over, using her water powers to hold the rain over their heads, keeping them dry. "I-I'm really sorry Peridot… I know you were working on that for a while."

Peridot looked up at Lapis. "I-it's ok… I haven't started building yet, I was still in the planning phase. Though, I still got a long way into it… and now… I guess I have to start over…" Lapis looked at Peridot with sympathy. "W-well, that's the least of our worries now, where are we going to stay?"

"Oh… yeah… I mean, we _could_ just stay out here…"

"With the annoying rain and terrifying lighting strikes? I don't think so, Lazuli." She gasped as she got an idea. "Hey, why don't we stay at Steven's base for now?"

"Wait wha-"

Before she could say more, Peridot snatched her tablet from the box Lapis was holding and called Steven on its video chatting application. A few seconds later, he picked up.

Steven came up on the screen and waved "Hey, Peridot, Lapis! U-umm… what're you doing out in the rain?"

"Oh, w-well Steven, w-we-"

Lapis took the tablet from Peridot's hand and pointed the camera at the rubble. "That happened."

"What?! Th-the barn collapsed? Where're you guys gonna stay now? Wait, what are we gonna tell Dad?!"

"Steven, do you mind if we could stay at your base for awhile? At least until we find another place to live."

"W-wait, now hold on-" Lapis started, but Steven interrupted with a gasp.

"You guys want a _SLEEPOVER_?! That'd be awesome!"

"What's a… sleepover…?" Peridot questioned.

"Oh this'll be great, I'll show you guys everything, the kitchen, the warp pad, the bathroom- oh wait you already saw that, Peridot- oh, and I could show you guys the awesome missions me and the gems go on-"

"N-no!" Lapis interrupted at the mention of the gems.

"Wh-what? Lapis, why not?" Peridot asked her confusedly.

"I… I don't wanna be anywhere near… them…"

Peridot sighed. "Lapis, if you wanna get used to Earth, you have to learn how to get used to the gems too."

"It's not that! It's… just… it's more complicated than that…"

"Wh-what is it, Lapis?" Steven looked at her with a concerned face.

"I… I just can't… we'll have to find another place to stay."

"But…" Peridot tried desperately to think of something to persuade her, "but don't you _want_ to live closer to Steven?!"

Lapis looked down at Peridot. She had a point, she actually did miss spending time with Steven. The gems on the other hand… she couldn't stand to even think of them. But she looked down at the tablet. To be there _living_ with Steven... the idea appealed to her, even though the gems were there. "See you later, Steven." She hung up, leaving Steven with an incredibly confused face.

 **Wow, ok. That was fun to write, haha. Peridot and Lapis are so cute :3. IT'S NOT ROMANTIC THOUGH. I wrote kinda ahead, I already wrote the next chapter, just proofreading and making mild adjustments now. Hopefully I can release it next week and get the next next chapter (or at least some of it) done before then. I'm hoping for the best.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Woo, another chapter! :D**

Steven looked at his phone with confusion. So… was that a yes…? He assumed not, considering Lapis' opinion on it. But… why was she feeling that way? Oh well, there was nothing he could do about it now. He just hoped they'd find someplace safe for them to stay from the rain. Before he could think anymore, there was a sudden, rapid knock on the front door. It made him jump off the couch and look through the screen door. Of course, it was both Peridot and Lapis, with Lapis holding up the rain to keep them dry. With all that rain coming down, Lapis looked to be struggling to hold it all up. He quickly ran to the door and opened it. "Guys, you're here!" He ran up to them and gave both of them a big hug, nearly startling Lapis enough to drop all that rain on their heads. "You… agreed to it, Lapis?"

"She's the one who brought us here in the first place!" Peridot stated, "She said 'Just so you know, I'm only doing this for Steven.'" She attempted the best Lapis impression she could manage.

"I told you not to tell anyone!" Lapis protested.

"What, but it's Steven! He'd never abuse this confidential information." Peridot reasoned, knowing how kind-hearted Steven was to both her and Lapis.

"Well, it's true though. I knew you'd be worried about us."

"Lapis, you really don't have to if you don't want to." Steven assured her.

"No, it's fine. I want to stay here! With you."

"Oh, ok then! Well, welcome to my humble abode! That over there's my bed, there's the TV, the kitchen, there's the bathroom, oh, and over there's the warp pad, we use that to go on missions and-" Before he could say more, the warp pad lit up and the three figures Steven always knew came out of the light.

Lapis looked down solemnly.

"Oh, hello Steven. And-" Pearl stopped, noticing both Lapis and Peridot standing in the house. "Oh, are you two visiting?"

"Well, no, the barn actually collapsed in the storm, and-" Peridot started.

"WH-WHAT?! What are we going to tell Greg?!" Pearl exclaimed.

"Look, that's not what's important now! Could you let us stay here until we find another place?"

Both Pearl and Amethyst looked up to Garnet. She shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"YEAH!" Steven peeked up, startling all of them, "Oh, you guys are gonna be the best roommates! Would you like your own rooms in the temple, or would you rather stay on the uncomfortable couch?" Steven quipped, gaining some snickers from the rest of the gems.

"I'll take the couch." Lapis immediately answered.

"Um, Lapis I was joking, there's room in the temple for-"

"No, Steven. I'm fine here."

"Oh, well whatever makes you happy! Whattaya guys wanna do now?"

"Well, I'd like to take shelter here as briefly as possible," Peridot started, "I wouldn't want to be a burden, and I'm sure Lapis isn't too happy being here. So I say we should start rebuilding the barn right now. If we have the time and/or manpower, I would like if we could start the process of making my impromptu limb enhancers, since my plans were destroyed along with the barn."

"Aw, Peridot. I'm sorry about that. Oh, and… um… sorry about getting rid of your other… um… limbs…"

Pearl subtly elbowed Amethyst, who happened to be picking her nose. "O-oh yeah haha, sorry about that P-Dot, heh heh…"

"It's no trouble. I just hope that this planet has the sufficient materials to build at least a primitive but functioning version."

"Yeah!" Steven exclaimed in excitement, " Why don't we all work together to rebuild the barn, _and_ help build Peridot's limb… thingies!"

Lapis had to admit: Steven's enthusiasm for everything never ceased to both amuse and amaze her.

"Yes, Steven." Peridot agreed. "In fact, why don't we start immedia-" she was interrupted by an extremely loud thunder strike which seemed to rumble the whole house. None of the gems had noticed that Peridot had ran and hid under the coffee table. "O-on second thought, maybe we should start when the storm passes."

 **The next day**

Clear skies extended all the way to the horizon. Just yesterday it was pouring down lightning and rain nonstop. But today it was completely clear. The way Earth changes so frequently and quickly has never ceased to amaze Lapis. She just wondered why she couldn't be that way. She could never change, no matter how hard she tried. It took a lot out of her to withdraw her grudge against Peridot, but to the _Crystal Gems_? She wouldn't imagine she would be doing that anytime soon. But if she wanted to be living here on Earth, with everything and everyone constantly changing, she knew she had to learn to change herself. Perhaps that change had already started with the removal of her grudge against Peridot, but she definitely knew that her grudge against the Gems was still living on strong. She knew she had to change that. But she just _couldn't_. Not after what they did with the war… and _especially_ that one particular gem…

"Oh, good morning, Lapis." Her thoughts were interrupted when Steven came down the stairs. "Heh, I forgot you were here. "He noticed her face. "Hey… are you ok, Lapis?"

She looked down. "I'm fine, Steven."

Steven went over and sat next to Lapis. "It's a clear day out, we could start rebuilding the barn today."

"Yeah…" Lapis looked down, picking at her fingers.

Steven looked at her with concern, but got up and went to the fridge. "Hey, do you want some cereal?"

Lapis looked up. "What's… cereal…?"

"It's food!" He took out what looked like a container filled with white liquid and a box from the cabinet. "You put milk and cereal together into a bowl, and it's really delicious! You wanna try it?" He held the box out as a way to convince her, smiling his usual, toothy smile. When she looked up, Steven let out a little giggle, which somehow worked in persuading her even more.

Lapis laughed at his attempt to convince her. She admitted it, she _did_ kind of want to try it. "Sure, I'll try it!" She went over to the counter. Steven got out two bowls and poured the cereal and milk into both of them. "Whoops! Forgot the spoons, heh heh!"

He turned around to retrieve the spoons, but when he turned back he saw Lapis holding up the bowl and attempting to pour the cereal down her mouth. "W-wait, Lapis! You have to use these!"

"Don't you just have to get it in your mouth? How would… _these_ help?" She held up the utensil to her face.

Steven laughed, not in a jeering way, but more as some light banter. "These are spoons! You use them to scoop up the food." He demonstrated with his own bowl. "And then you bring it up to your mouth!" And he did so. "It helps to avoid messes!" He said with a full mouth, ironically spitting food out all over the place. "Try it!"

Lapis picked up her own spoon, dug it into the cereal, as if digging into dirt, but was a little too rough with it and spilled some, but nevertheless brought it up and stuck it in her mouth. She didn't _hate_ the taste, but it didn't seem too good either. Well, eating _is_ still a new concept for her.

"How do ya like it?" Steven smiled.

"The taste… is really strong..." she stuck out her tongue, with specks of cereal still stuck on it.

"Oh, that's probably all that sugar! It gives you all the energy for your day! Though, maybe all that sugar isn't _too_ healthy for a breakfast, but it's good, right?"

"Yeah, it's good!" Lapis said, looking down at the bowl. But not good enough for her to want more…

"Well, I've gotta brush my teeth. Now don't do anything I wouldn't do, heh heh!" Lapis laughed as Steven went into the bathroom. There was just _something_ about Steven that she just loved. With everyone and everything seeming against her before (even herself, with that whole Malachite situation), Steven was the _only_ one who gave her a chance, who was _nice_ to her, to let her out of the mirror, to heal her gem, to let her stay on Earth, in the barn, and now in his own house! She just couldn't get how _anyone_ could be that nice.

Before she could think anymore, the temple door opened, and Lapis' body tensed up. It was _her_.

The Pearl walked to the bathroom door. "Steven! Peridot's 'investigating' inside the burning room, and she won't listen to us when we ask her to come down! She says she'll only listen to you!"

"What?! I told her to just stay in her room!" He walked out of the bathroom, his face still wet from brushing and walked over to the temple door. "Lapis, we _maaay_ need your help too."

She didn't want to, but she followed them into the temple anyway.

 **-{}-**

"Peridot, get down from there! It's dangerous!" They looked up at Peridot, who happened to have climbed up something that looked like a pipe, unfazed by the well of lava directly under her.

"But Steven! This material could be incredibly useful for my limb enhancers! The force it radiates could even be enough to create floating appendages!"

"That 'material' is incredibly essential to the functioning of this very room!" Yelled Garnet. "You are _not_ taking that!"

"Oh, relax! I'm only going to take a small sample to analyze!"

"B-but Peridot, what if you mess something up?" Steven asked.

"Pfft, what function does this room even have? To keep all this useless lava flowing? Or is it to just look pretty?" Peridot mocked as she took out a pick and dial to break open the pipe and take a sample of its contents. But before she could, Lapis brought her water arm (the water came from Pearl's room, which conveniently happened to be in the next room) and brought Peridot down. Seeing Peridot so easily defeated gained some snickers from Amethyst, and eventually all the gems joined in.

"Nice use of your powers, Lazuli…" Peridot looked down and blushed.

 **-{}-**

"Look, Peridot, we should just focus on rebuilding the barn, _then_ we'll start your limb enhancers." Pearl reasoned.

"Yeah!" Steven agreed. "We should all work together on this, just like we did with the drill! Now… I think me, Garnet and Amethyst can handle getting the wood and materials."

"I think I have an axe or a chainsaw _somewhere_ in my room…" Amethyst added, rubbing her chin while she thought of where she may have put them.

"And Pearl, Peridot, and Lapis can handle all the smart architecture-y stuff!"

"N-no!" Lapis accidentally burst and put her hand to her mouth. The gems all looked at her. "I… I can't…" she looked down.

"Why not, Lapis?" Steven went up to her, with a saddened face. Lapis looked up at him, then all the other gems. "Um, guys, do you mind if we talk in private?"

All the gems agreed and went in the temple.

"I just can't… not with… _her_ …" Lapis shuttered.

Steven paused. "Pearl?"

"Yes… that one…" she held her hands to her head.

"What? Why, you two never even met!"

"Yes we have, Steven... It was all the way back at the end of the war... I was in the mirror. I was _stuck_ on that field. I'll admit it was kind of nice to be out there all alone, but then... _she_ came and took the mirror. She saw my gem, she saw that it was cracked, and... she didn't do _anything_. She just tried asking me questions like all the others, she tried using me... I can never forgive her..."

"W-wait, I'm not saying I don't believe you, b-but... it has to be something else that happened!"

"Steven..." Lapis knew the gems meant a lot to Steven, it pained her to see him like this, and knowing that _she's_ the one that brought this up, to cause this pain to Steven... She hated herself for it. Steven helps her in so many ways... and she only hurts him.

"But Pearl would never do that! She... Sh-she..."

"It's like I told you Steven... You shouldn't trust them." She could see tears welling up in his eyes. She couldn't let this happen. "W-wait! It's ok, y-you're right, maybe there _is_ another expl-"

"You don't have to lie to me, I know they've done bad things..." Steven walked over and sat on the couch. Lapis followed. "It's the same with Mom... I know they don't tell me everything, and... sometimes it's to keep me safe, but..."

She didn't want this. She didn't want to create this _rift_ between him and the gems. As bad as they were, they were still Steven's family. She didn't want to separate them. "No, Steven, you're right! Maybe... _she_... just didn't know I was in there..." But she had to admit, she was really suspending her disbelief here. "Maybe she thought I wasn't conscious in there."

"W-well, maybe we should ask her!"

"N-no! I-I'm... not ready to face her yet..."

Steven sighed. "It's ok... you don't have to join in if it makes you uncomfortable..."

But she _wanted_ to help, she _wanted_ to try to make amends and put this whole thing behind her, to start fresh, to change, just like the Earth. And... maybe the way to start that was to start slowly... "No, I _want_ to help! Maybe I could help with gathering the materials, I could do that."

"Really?!" In an instant, he was back to his starry-eyed self. "Heh, I think you and Amethyst would get well!" He started scratching his head, not really sure if that was true.

"The small and loud one? Ehh... we'll see." Lapis joked.

"Yeah! So you, Garnet, and Amethyst will go get the materials. Do you... want me to join in...?"

As if he even had to ask that. "O-of course! I think we need your strength to hold the wood."

He looked down, flattered at the compliment. "Aww, I'm not _that_ strong, heh heh."

Well, she felt that, with Steven at least, maybe putting this grudge behind her won't be that hard! As long as Steven stays by her side, she could do it! She felt a sudden burst of energy from this self-encouragement. She stood up and jogged over to the temple door. "C'mon, let's go get them!"

Steven looked taken aback. _What a turnaround!_ he thought. He wasn't complaining, though. The happier she was, the better. He got up from the couch and ran over to the temple door.

 **As much as it seemed like it here, it's not Lapiven either, don't worry. I just** _ **adore**_ **the relationship between those two. If you enjoyed it, leave a review, maybe not just complimenting it, but also giving criticism? That's what really motivates me to keep writing. Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter, finally! Sorry for the delay, but y'know... I've kinda already told you about those, so sorry, nothing I could do about it. Life and writers' block gets in the way... If any of you have suggestions for a better title for the story, I'd love to hear it, cause to be honest, I'm not too proud of the one I have now.**

Steven's gem opened the door to his mother's room. "Room, can you bring us down to the burning room? I- I mean the _real_ burning room?" He didn't need _another_ room situation now. Clouds in the background parted to reveal pipes leading down to the room. "Cool, isn't it?" Steven giggled. "Let's go!" He ran through the clouds to the pipes.

But Lapis stayed idle, taking in the sight of the room. This was where the leader of the rebellion spent her time. The whole war… she admitted she blamed the whole thing on her. She never cared for the Earth. Well… not until recently when she actually chose to stay. Now she agrees with what she was fighting for. She just wished she wasn't so blunt about it. She _shattered_ a gem! A diamond, even! She wasn't too fond of those dictators either, but she knew, for all the time she spent on Earth, the notion of taking the life of another is not what it stands for. She wondered if Steven really knew what his mother did. She would never say it, of course, she never wanted to cause even _more_ pain to Steven.

"Hey, Lapis! You coming?" Steven called from the pipes.

"Y-yeah!" She flew over to the pipes, picked Steven up, and gently flew him down to the burning room, where Amethyst and Garnet seemed to be talking.

"Hey, guys!" Steven called.

"Heyo, Steve-o!" Amethyst called back.

"We are going to be calling a raincheck in getting those materials. I sense a corrupted gem taking shelter near a human mine. We must take care of it immediately."

"Should we get Peridot and Pearl?" Steven asked. Lapis paled at the question.

"There's no time. The humans are approaching the gem quickly. We must leave immediately."

"Then let's go! C'mon, Lapis!"

The warp pad lit up the surrounding area as the four figures stepped out of it. Steven turned on the flashlight, with it being their only source of light after the warp pad dimmed.

"WOAH! Look at how huge this cave is!" Steven's voice echoed as it traveled through the gargantuan cave. Steven stared with amazement at the expansiveness of the cave before him. The warp pad sat at the bottom of the cave, the light from the flashlight only barely reaching the ceiling, rising many meters above them. "I didn't know a cave this big could exist!"

"That's because it didn't form naturally." Garnet stoically stated.

"Whaddaya mean?" Steven looked up at Garnet, who continued stepped off the warp pad and started walking.

"Creating these cave systems..." Lapis started for Garnet, "That's what I was made for..."

"Huh?" Steven looked to Lapis for clarification.

"That's why I have my water powers. Lapis Lazulis are made to terraform planets."

"WOAH! Does that mean you can control the ground too?!" Steven yelled in wonderment, so loud that it was surprising his booming voice didn't collapse the cave.

"U-um, no, there are other gems who do that. Lapis Lazulis are the ones in charge of making bases underwa-" She was interrupted by a piercing wail that echoed through the whole cave.

"What was that?!" Steven jumped in surprise.

"It's the monster... it's close!" Garnet grunted. "Let's go!" They started running towards the sound, which repeated itself every few seconds. It's screeching roar got louder and louder as they ran closer, to the point in which Steven had to hold his ears from the noise. It continued on and on until it suddenly stopped.

"What happened...?" Amethyst stopped and summoned her whip, not getting a good feeling from the sudden silence. They slowed their pace and continued listening for it to start up again. The silence continued, the only sound in the cave being their footsteps, until a faint, ominous hum started being heard.

"That... kinda sounds like a machine..." Steven speculated. The humming got louder and louder until the flashlight illuminated a large building rising all the way up to the cave's ceiling. "Wooaaahhh..." Steven marveled at the sight of the structure. The humming seemed to be coming from inside the building, but as they approached the door, it stopped. They stopped moving, the sudden silence again stopping them in their tracks. Then the wails of the monster started up again, now louder than ever.

"We have to get in there!" Garnet to open the door by putting her hands on the front screen.

" **Gem Type: Unknown. Order of Command: Blue Diamond. Access denied, Pink Diamond controlled facility."**

"Wh-what?! But you're a gem!" Steven yelled out, astonished.

"There are different kinds of gems, Steven." The roaring suddenly stopped again as the humming started again. Through the cracks of the door, they could see lights turning on.

"...What is this monster doing...?" Steven questioned.

"That doesn't matter. We need to get in there." Garnet was tempted to summon her gauntlets to break the structure down, but the building looked incredibly unstable, and seemed to be the only thing keeping the cave intact, with its rafters extending across the whole cave's ceiling.

"But... how? It's not letting us in!" Amethyst summoned her whip, preparing to smash the door down, but Garnet held her arm out signaling her to stop.

Lapis hesitated, but she stepped up and put her hand to the screen.

" **Gem Type: Lapis Lazuli. Order of Command: Pink Diamond (Temp.) Welcome."**

"Oh... That works!" Steven said as the door creaked open. "I thought you were Blue Diamond's though…?"

"I am- uh- _was_..." she explained as the door slowly opened. "But the Diamonds are allowed to lend each other gems."

"Um, hey, if you two are done squawking back there, we have a monster to catch." Amethyst impatiently called back to them.

They nodded to each other as they walked into the building. The lights looked to be struggling to stay on, they were consistently flickering every few seconds.

"I didn't think this place would still be working!" Steven remarked. "Usually these ancient gem places are broken down!"

"They are…" Garnet warned.

"Then… how is it still work-" he was interrupted by a distant boom, presumably from a malfunctioning machine, and the whole facility dimmed, all the machines turned off, and the monster's incessant wails began again. They started running towards the roars, which led them to a gigantic door. Lapis put her hand on the screen and the door managed to open despite the facility having no power. She assumed it was running on an emergency supply. They entered through the threshold to find themselves in an expansive empty room with what seems to be a single control panel at the other end of the room.

Steven started walking towards it, only to be held back by Garnet. "The monster is here. Stick together, be careful."

They walked together as a group, each individual searching in a different direction for the monster. As they got closer to the control panel, Steven's flashlight revealed a giant mural depicting Pink Diamond standing over the Earth. Clearly an art piece (at least, he hoped, he didn't want the diamonds to be able to get _that_ big), but he couldn't help but staring and walking towards it, even getting separated from the group. The lights and machines suddenly turned on again, and the monster's wails stopped once more. He was able to get a better look at the painting, walked towards the control panel to get a closer look at the mural behind it. It depicted Pink Diamond towering over the Earth, with her hands nearly clasped around it. With the facility operating again, the gem depicted on its figure had lit up and was protruding out from the mural, and was shaped very much like the direct-to-diamond line that Peridot had used. Was the monster trying to contact the Diamonds...?

Little did he know, the monster was hiding right behind it and jumped out and attacked him. From the surprise, he managed to summon his bubble and shield himself from getting harmed. When he gained his senses from the shock, he was able to get a good look at the monster. It was a huge, four-legged beast, with horns protruding from its head, all the way to its posterior. They had a certain wooden texture to it somehow. It had both marks of brown, green, and pink strewn all over its skin, with tufts of green fur scattered around its body. Its large green mane consisting of many leaf-like leaflets bounced up and down and rustled as the monster moved back and forth. Despite its obviously savage nature, Steven could still feel a sense of humanity (or, well... gem-ity) radiating from it. Ever since the Centi situation, he just... didn't feel right hurting these gems anymore. At least, not before trying to heal them first.

He was still in his bubble as he regained his vision to see that Garnet and Amethyst summoned their weapons, ready to fight. Lapis, having no water around, stayed behind, but still in between Steven and the monster. He dissipated the bubble and ran past Lapis – despite her misgivings – and yelled "Stop!"

Both Garnet and Amethyst stopped in their places. "C-can you... let me try to heal it?" he begged of them, only barely taking notice of the fact that the beast was charging towards Garnet, who managed to just hold it back from taking a bite out of her form.

She grunted as she struggled to hold its mouth away from her body. "Hurry, make it quick! The gem is on its back..." She grunted, gaining help from Amethyst, who summoned her whip and was pulling it back away from Garnet. Lapis stood helplessly behind, gazing at the scene before her.

Steven quickly ran up to the beast and licked his hand. "I hope this works..." He rubbed the hand on the gem, which seemed to be primarily orange, except... usually corrupted gems looked normal (or at least... the gems themselves did). This one even seemed to have pink, yellow, and green corruption-esque marks scattered about the gem. He wondered which kind it was, but there was no time to think.

The gem glowed a bright orange as it begun its healing. The gem's body, however, seemed to remain unchanged. Its gem stopped glowing and revealed a clean, illuminous orange. The monster's eyes seemed to have changed from a more reptilian kind, to be more mammalian. Even its movements became less erratic. As if it's gained a new conscience. Has his healing... helped at all?

The monster took them all by surprise, however, by suddenly jumping up, releasing Garnet's grasp on its snout and making Amethyst lose her hold on her whip, which was still wrapped around its torso. Steven was thrown off the monster, and summoned his shield by instinct. When he regained his senses, he saw the monster looking at him intently. More specifically, his shield. Something seemed to ping in its mind, as the monster now grew more chaotic than ever before, charging intensely at Steven. He yelled in fear as he summoned his bubble, which seemed to break on the monster's attack. He luckily still had his shield, which was able to absorb most of the blow. He still felt his back being crushed against the ground, and the pain only grew worse as the monster kept pushing. Amethyst summoned her whip and tried pulling the monster away. Garnet wrapped her arms around the monster, trying to pull it away, then trying to crush it and poof it. Even Lapis, upon seeing Steven in danger, had summoned her wings – thus losing her flying ability permanently until she absorbs the water again – and formed a rapier. If she had a Sapphire with her, she could freeze it to make it even sharper, but she was obviously fused into Garnet. She charged towards the monster, jumped up high, and stabbed it straight into its back. The monster roared in pain as it threw all of them off of it, releasing Steven just long enough for him to run behind the gems. Even after being stabbed, the monster trembled as it turned around, and glared at Steven, completely ignoring the gems that had just defeated it. It was glaring down at his gem, through a hole it has made in his shirt. With the last of its strength, it tried charging at his gem to crush it, until its legs failed it and fell to the floor. Steven couldn't help but put his palms to his mouth and began running up to it, but was held back by the three gems. With the biggest cloud Steven has ever seen, the beast finally poofed, and its large gem fell onto the ground. The damage it has done has done significant damage to the machines around them, and just as the gem fell to the ground, the whole facility powered down again, leaving the place in total silence. Steven stumbled towards the gem, and got onto his knees to pick up the gem. He rubbed it around in his hands, examining it closely. It had an exterior of a bright orange, though it was slightly clear, and inside it, he could see what appeared to be another part of the gem, which was completely opaque, and – even though its color was tinted by its orange exterior – looked to be bright pink in color.

Judging by all that happened, he could already assume who this gem belonged to. He shined his flashlight on the mural of Pink Diamond, focusing intently on her gem. He then looked down at the gem in his hands and bubbled it, and sent it back to the temple. The gems walked up to him, but he still looked off to the side.

"Steven... I know-" Garnet started.

"No. It's okay. Let's just go." His hands turned into fists as he took big and quick steps out of the facility.

Lapis tried following him to try to console him, but was called back by Garnet. "He needs time."

"He knows... doesn't he...?" Lapis looked up at the mural.

"Yes, he does. Please... for his sake... don't tell him anything... He must not know any more about this..." She was begging. Even if she hadn't seen much of her, Lapis knew that that was uncharacteristic for Garnet.

"But... _why_?! I thought you were a _team_! Don't you have to tell everyone _everything_?!" Garnet looked at Lapis. She couldn't see Garnet's expression through her visor, but she wouldn't imagine it was good.

"I... understand where you're coming from, but... we can't ruin the image of Rose Quartz in his mind. It would break him."

"But... with something as big as... _that,_ " she indicated the mural of Pink Diamond, "don't you think the secret will come out at some point?"

"She's... right..." Amethyst stepped in for the first time this whole conversation. "I've seen this before with... you and Pearl... when secrets come out... they turn out ugly... we've seen how much he freaked out when he got the book, and he's surrounded by gem stuff! He's gonna find things out on his own, and when he does..."

"I don't think there's much more to tell him now... the secret's out..." Lapis muttered under her breath.

"Hey! You guys coming?!" Steven yelled from outside the facility. The gems looked at each other and walked out of the building, with Steven waiting. "What were you guys doing in there?"

"Just... investigating... we had to find out what that monster was doing..." Lapis knew Garnet was lying to save their skins.

"Did you find out?"

"No." She said in deadpan. "It doesn't matter. It's taken care of, there's nothing to worry about anymore."

Steven looked down and shut his eyes. "Yeah... _nothing to worry about_..." he muttered. He began walking back to the warp pad, leaving the gems to follow closely behind.

 **Oooooh, drama... if ya have criticism, it'd be much appreciated! If not (and, well, even if you do), then enjoy the few weeks of delay between this and the next chapter. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A nice little chapter for all of you. :) I would have made it longer but I don't wanna ruin the simplicity of this one.**

Steven opened his eyes. The sun was shining on his body. He tried sitting up, but he couldn't move any of his muscles. "H-huh?" He tried moving again, but the most he could do was flail his arms and legs about. The problem seemed to be with his back. He tried twisting around by his torso, trying to get those muscles working again, only to feel a sharp pain ring through him. "O-ow!" He winced in pain. He looked down at his body. Everything _seemed_ to look normal.

"Steven! Are you alright?" He had forgotten that Lapis was on the sofa right under the foyer.

"U-um, a little? I... can't move my back..." His cheeks let out a little blush, he had to admit it was a little embarrassing.

"Wh-what? Why?!"

"I don't-" Then he realized. "Oh... it's because of that monster yesterday... it must have really done a number on my back, heh heh... _ow_..." He winced again as his back pinged in pain again. Lapis ran up to him, not knowing at all what to do. "Um... can ya help me up, Lapis?"

"Now, w-wait, isn't that going to... _hurt_?" He was half human, she didn't know how fragile humans were.

"Well… yes, but I still need to get up, heh heh." He blushed again in embarrassment.

"Umm… yeah, I'm not going to do that. I'm gonna go get someone to help."

Steven sighed. "Well… ok."

-{}-

She came back with Garnet and Amethyst (she tried her best to stay far far away from the Pearl's room), with Amethyst not even attempting to hide her snickering.

"Amethyst, there is nothing to be laughing about." Garnet admonished.

"Aw, c'mom, G! He doesn't look _that_ hurt!"

"Yeah, Amethyst's right!" Steven tried to assure them, "Everything's just fine- ow!" Another pain rushed through his body.

" _Steven?!_ " They heard Pearl coming from the temple door. Lapis looked away and even stepped away from the bed. "Steven, are you okay?! Why didn't anyone tell me about this?!"

"P-Pearl, its ok, really! My back is just in a _tiny_ bit of pai-"

" _Pain?!_ I _-_ I can't- I just- _what do you mean it's ok?! You're hurt!"_

"Pearl, you need to calm down. We just need to call a human doctor." Garnet advised.

"Nonsense." They heard Peridot call from downstairs, they hadn't even realized she was there, "there's no _way_ these primitive humans could possibly understand and comprehend a wound such as this. There's no need to worry though, for your great and lovable Peridot is here to help!"

"Pfft, you'd probably just hurt him more," Amethyst teased.

Peridot puffed her cheeks and ran up the stairs. " _Ha!_ I don't think so! I think a gem such as myself will surely be able to understand the simple and primitive structure of the human body. Now then… what seems to be the problem?" Peridot put her hands together in a desperate attempt to make herself look like she knew what she was doing.

"Guuyyysss, there _is_ no problem, I'm fine, really! Just a little back pain is all! You don't need to make such a fuss about it, heh heh- _ow…_ maybe all I need is just a little rest! I mean, it's not _that_ bad… and if not, we can just call Connie's mom, you guys don't need to worry so much!"

"Well… I wouldn't like to be calling those human doctors and their primitive tools along to our house and to your body…" Pearl audibly thought. "Fine, a few days of rest, and we'll see if you get better, alright?" She lovingly put her hand out to his head.

"Aww, thanks Pearl. And really, there's nothing to worry about!"

"And meanwhile, can we _please_ get around to rebuilding the barn?" Peridot wailed impatiently. "I must say that there isn't much to do in this temple…"

"Yes, of course, but we're going to need all the help we can get," Pearl agreed. "and I think that we could use Lapi-"

"W-wait!" Steven interrupted her before Lapis even had the chance to. He looked at Lapis, and she looked back, noticeably alarmed at the near mention of her name. "U-um… I think Lapis should just stay here with me! I want someone's company while I rest!"

"Awww, _I_ wanted to hang with you…" Amethyst griped.

"Don't be lazy." Garnet ordered. "Let's go gather the materials. Get well soon, Steven." She scruffled up his hair and the rest of the gems followed suit by gently giving him a hug while being careful not to hurt him.

"Thanks, guys. I love you..." he embraced them all for a few more seconds, then they were released from the group hug and he gave a wave as they continued on with their duties.

When they were all gone, he looked back to Lapis, who still hung back during the hug. She was still looking down. "Hey, Lapis, I-"

"It's ok…" she slowly looked up. "Thanks for saving me back there." She gave a subtle grin.

Steven let out a small laugh. "Heh, it's no problem…" a silence swept through the whole room. "Hey… ya still owe me a hug…" he stretched out his arms despite not being able to move. Lapis hesitated, but then eagerly stepped towards him and gave him a semi-restrained but still loving hug. She still didn't want to hurt him.

"And… I'm sorry about what Pearl did…" he muttered.

She looked down. "And… I'm sorry about what your breeder did."

He paused in confusion. "You mean… my mom…?" He began to tear up.

"…yeah…"

Tears started falling from her eyes and she accidentally tightened her hug on him. It slightly hurt him, but he didn't care. "You…" he sniffled. He couldn't think of the words. "You acknowledged it… you didn't try to… push it under the rug. Thank you..." He started laughing and crying simultaneously, making his back hurt even more, and even started to tighten his hold on Lapis, giving her a slight pain.

She didn't know why, but she started cry-laughing too. "I feel like… you're the only one that understands me..." she said, still holding him in the hug.

"…heh, I think I feel the same about you…" they remained in the hug, staying still for a few more minutes. Over the duration of the hug, two groups of clouds outside started clumping up together and it started raining again. The plitter-platter of the raindrops hitting against the window was the only sound in the room. The natural light in the room dimmed, and there were shadows created by the raindrops adhering to the surface of the window and racing down to the bottom. They listened to the rain as they hugged for a few minutes. They then released their hug and they watched together as the rain fell.

 **Ok… you** _ **may**_ **have seen that as Lapiven, and that's totally fine, but I don't. I just like affection like that. I don't really see it as romantic. I just see it as two** _ **really**_ **good friends being there for each other and growing closer. Feel free to see it as that, or don't, just know that that isn't what I intended with it.**

 **Oh and speaking of that scene, I'm actually really quite proud of it. The symbolisms of the rain and Steven's back pain…** _ **ooh**_ **that's some good metaphors right there. I'm not gonna say what they are (tbh I think it's pretty obvious), feel free to put your analysis in the reviews, I'd love to see your interpretations. Not saying this is like Leonardo da Vinci or Stanley Kubrick levels of avant-garde art, but… for my level I think that was pretty dang good. _But looking back at it it really wasn't as impressive as I'm making it out to be lol._**

 **Also, AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH I'M SO HYPED FOR WANTED AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH**


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